Ask HN: Why did you leave the tech industry? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Why did you leave the tech industry?

#121

Post by karatestomp » Wed, Apr 15, 2020, 2:39 PM UTC

pansa2 wrote: post #79

ehnto wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm tired. I'm tired of the artificial deadlines I think the ephemeral nature of software really plays poorly with the artificial deadlines, and the artificial importance of some projects in general. Eventually you recognize the pattern, and there's no logical way to justify it, so it's harder to motivate yourself. You know the deadline isn't real, and you know the software will be rewritten next year with some new…

> the ephemeral nature of software [...] it's harder to motivate yourself It's been a few years since I left the industry, and I'd be surprised if any of the code I wrote professionally hasn't been superseded by now. Even worse, plenty of it was scrapped before it was even released. Of course, I knew this would be the case when I was writing it - that does indeed affect one's motivation.

I doubt if more than 25% of my work-hours as a developer have gone toward any kind of program or product that went on to provide enough benefit to have been worth the effort and expense. It feels like being one of the monkeys in some kind of million-monkeys Shakespeare project. Like the system just tries random shit and sometimes something works but mostly it just wastes everyone's time (lives).

Re: Ask HN: Why did you leave the tech industry?

#122

Post by hobs » Wed, Apr 15, 2020, 2:40 PM UTC

adrianN wrote: post #76

Nextgrid wrote: post #64

I wish I could leave. The tech industry nowadays is no longer about solving real-world problems and making the world a better place, instead it's all about screwing the end user in every single way possible, whether it's ads, stalking and privacy violations, spam ("marketing" as they call it) or just plain fraud where the company is happy to take the money but can't make it right if things don't go to plan and the cu…

You could always switch to a company that doesn't make its money with ads. For example I work for Snowflake and I don't feel like I'm building stuff to screw the end user at all. I just make our database better. I also worked for Siemens. There too I didn't try to screw any users, I just tried to make trains run cheaper, faster and more reliably.

I also think B2B is a much less predatory place - most of the businesses have real money, want a real thing to help them make more of it, and are engaged in the process of making that work.

There's plenty of bad actors (like any biz) but most of the time when I ship features everyone is happy, and no one is taken advantage of.

Re: Ask HN: Why did you leave the tech industry?

#123

Post by frosted-flakes » Wed, Apr 15, 2020, 2:40 PM UTC

ehnto wrote: post #100

throwaway-9320 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have found myself with a similar issue. Haven't been in the industry for too long (been working for over 3 years), but the constant shitshow that is FE development is really taking a toll on me. No matter what you do, people keep changing things, sometimes for the better, other times for no particular reason other than to work on new shiny things. If what I am writing right now will be thrown out soon or rewritten…

> but going this route will have a minuscule impact also on a larger scale. I think people trick themselves into thinking that "changing the world" is their ticket to happiness. I think looking more locally is the key to happiness. Make your community better in some way and the results are immediate, and you get to be a part of something meaningful and present. If you become the local guy that fixes people's old comp…

So, rather than maybe help lots of people a tiny bit (hard to see the impact), help a small number of individuals a lot.

Re: Ask HN: Why did you leave the tech industry?

#124

Post by matonias » Wed, Apr 15, 2020, 2:41 PM UTC

peckrob wrote: post #108

I stated my career early - while I was still in high school. I went from bagging groceries and doing checkouts at a grocery store to programming for a local company my senior year of high school. I continued doing this for my first couple years of college. But then dot-bomb happened and it looked like the party was over. I looked down at the job opportunities after graduation. I didn't really want to spend the rest o…

Wow, what a story.

> A good group of coworkers (for me) who legit really care about protecting these astounding natural resources. And a feeling that you're really making a difference and reaching people.

This feeling of 'feel' for a thing, its what I miss in tech personally. Companies offer a service, want a happy customer and make money that way. But a 'feel' for the actual goal and way its done usually lacks. Too many egos...

Re: Ask HN: Why did you leave the tech industry?

#125

Post by Nextgrid » Wed, Apr 15, 2020, 2:41 PM UTC

adrianN wrote: post #76

Nextgrid wrote: post #64

I wish I could leave. The tech industry nowadays is no longer about solving real-world problems and making the world a better place, instead it's all about screwing the end user in every single way possible, whether it's ads, stalking and privacy violations, spam ("marketing" as they call it) or just plain fraud where the company is happy to take the money but can't make it right if things don't go to plan and the cu…

You could always switch to a company that doesn't make its money with ads. For example I work for Snowflake and I don't feel like I'm building stuff to screw the end user at all. I just make our database better. I also worked for Siemens. There too I didn't try to screw any users, I just tried to make trains run cheaper, faster and more reliably.

Making its money with ads doesn't mean anything anymore.

There are plenty of companies that have paid products and still do user-hostile things including stalking, spam, dark patterns, etc.

I paid full price for a Playstation 4. I still had to opt out of "enhanced data collection" and spend 15 minutes disabling every option on their bullshit attempt at a social network. Even the games themselves had their own telemetry crap I needed to disable buried deep in some advanced settings.

Spotify still insists on ratting me out to Facebook by loading their SDK even if I'm paying for the app. They also interrupt my flow every so often with in-app popovers about some stupid feature I don't care about.

A client I worked for that has a paid app had an insane amount of analytics and marketing SDKs in the app (including Facebook of course), so much that I actually refused to install the app or use the product myself even though they gave me a voucher.

Re: Ask HN: Why did you leave the tech industry?

#126

Post by BerislavLopac » Wed, Apr 15, 2020, 2:42 PM UTC

adrianN wrote: post #76

Nextgrid wrote: post #64

I wish I could leave. The tech industry nowadays is no longer about solving real-world problems and making the world a better place, instead it's all about screwing the end user in every single way possible, whether it's ads, stalking and privacy violations, spam ("marketing" as they call it) or just plain fraud where the company is happy to take the money but can't make it right if things don't go to plan and the cu…

You could always switch to a company that doesn't make its money with ads. For example I work for Snowflake and I don't feel like I'm building stuff to screw the end user at all. I just make our database better. I also worked for Siemens. There too I didn't try to screw any users, I just tried to make trains run cheaper, faster and more reliably.

> You could always switch to a company that doesn't make its money with ads

I always thought that I would be able to switch to any programming job I wanted, and that the only decision would be between making a lot and roughing it up (like the GP), or working for a better cause for less money (as you propose).

But now I find it -- after 25 years of professional experience -- nearly impossible to find any job. Maybe it is due to the coronavirus, or the budding depression (or both), but I've never seen the market so slow... :(

Re: Ask HN: Why did you leave the tech industry?

#127

Post by chrischattin » Wed, Apr 15, 2020, 2:42 PM UTC

npo9 wrote: post #51

throw1234651234 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the warning here is that most people will drop out of the pilot program and/or aren't qualified for it in the first place (eyesight, blood pressure, age, fitness to a lesser degree since it's "fixable" within 6 months). There's always army rotary, I guess.

I suspect someone joining the military after being in college and private industry has a higher chance of completing the pilot program than someone 18-20 years old which make up the bulk of the military recruits. (Assuming they both meet all physical requirements.)

Pilots are officers. So, they’ve at least completed an undergrad degree. It’s competitive to get into flight school.

Re: Ask HN: Why did you leave the tech industry?

#128

Post by aantix » Wed, Apr 15, 2020, 2:42 PM UTC

IceDane wrote: post #58

brtkdotse wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In a parellell universe, this would've been me. Electrician seem to be the perfect "manual" labor - not a lot of heavy lifts, work with your head a lot, good mix of in- and outdoors. Ps. Love the username/post combo.

This is anecdotal, but when I was younger and still figuring out what I wanted to do, I joined a 1 year course that was supposed to prepare people with HS diplomas and other people with practical jobs like electricians and such to study engineering in college. Surprisingly, the vast majority of the men in my class were electricians that had regretted their choice because it was such a dull job with a lot of menial la…

I wonder if they realize that’s most jobs?

I always laugh whenever TechCrunch or someone runs a story about some hot shot university winning a programming competition because they implemented an algorithm the fastest or created yet another new app.

When in the real world, most programming jobs are making changes to a really large code base trying your hardest not to break other things. Not nearly as glamorous.

Re: Ask HN: Why did you leave the tech industry?

#129

Post by Nextgrid » Wed, Apr 15, 2020, 2:42 PM UTC

hobs wrote: post #122

adrianN wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could always switch to a company that doesn't make its money with ads. For example I work for Snowflake and I don't feel like I'm building stuff to screw the end user at all. I just make our database better. I also worked for Siemens. There too I didn't try to screw any users, I just tried to make trains run cheaper, faster and more reliably.

I also think B2B is a much less predatory place - most of the businesses have real money, want a real thing to help them make more of it, and are engaged in the process of making that work. There's plenty of bad actors (like any biz) but most of the time when I ship features everyone is happy, and no one is taken advantage of.

A friend of mine works at a B2B business. Every week they have a "lead forensics" meeting where they somehow figure out which companies visited their website and then spam them with unsolicited sales calls/emails.

Re: Ask HN: Why did you leave the tech industry?

#130

Post by throw1234651234 » Wed, Apr 15, 2020, 2:43 PM UTC

chrischattin wrote: post #127

npo9 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect someone joining the military after being in college and private industry has a higher chance of completing the pilot program than someone 18-20 years old which make up the bulk of the military recruits. (Assuming they both meet all physical requirements.)

Pilots are officers. So, they’ve at least completed an undergrad degree. It’s competitive to get into flight school.

You are basically competing with George Bush.